By Sloan Durant, Chicago Times Magazine –

January 25, 2024

Despite the hype over Electric Vehicles, General Motors Company and Honda Motor Company finally announced this week the start of commercial production of a hydrogen fuel cell system under the joint venture known as Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC (FCSM).

Originally founded in Brownstown, Michigan, in 2017, FCSM is predicted to produce hydrogen fuel cells for both GM and Honda to be utilized in various products and future business ventures. According to GM, FCSM started as an $85 million joint investment with Honda.

“This is a historic day for the industry as GM and Honda are the first full fuel cell system manufacturing joint venture to begin volume production of fuel cells for transportation and beyond,” said FCSM president Suheb Haq in a press release.

As Toyota was introducing their fuel cell powered Mirai in 2014, Honda and GM engineers began work in 2013 on the development of their own fuel cell system. GM and Honda focused on lowering development and manufacturing costs, furthering cell design, and reducing the use of expensive precious metals. As a result, the new fuel cell systems will be one-third less expensive to manufacture when compared to the cost of the fuel cell system in the 2019 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell.

As an alternative to EVs, hydrogen fuel cells also reduce dependence on fossil fuels, which allegedly produce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently hydrogen fuel cells can be found in automobiles, trains, ships, and space rockets. Hydrogen produces energy by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to power electric motors.